² as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

3 “I will send my messenger,^(A) who will prepare the way before me.^(B) Then suddenly the Lord^(C) you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,^(D) whom you desire,^(E) will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

¹⁰ This is the one about whom it is written:

¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink,^(A) and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit^(B) even before he is born.^{(C) 16} He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord,^(D) in the spirit and power of Elijah,^(E) to turn the hearts of the parents to their children^(F) and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”^(G)

²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written:

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God^(B) is greater than he.”

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 In those days John the Baptist^(B) came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven^(C) has come near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

⁴ John’s^(E) clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.^(F) His food was locusts^(G) and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized^(H) by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers!^(I) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{(J) 8} Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.^{(K) 9} And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’^(L) I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.^(M)

¹¹ “I baptize you with^[b] water for repentance.^(N) But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with^[c] the Holy Spirit^(O) and fire.^(P)

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial^(A)

³¹ Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me,^(B) for it is written: